Towns of Kosova, 1582 - 1591 Registers and Historical Sources

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Town of Peja from 1582, inhabited by a Muslim Albanian population https://mapcarta.com/Peja

Neighborhood ''Xhamia Sherif''

Alaedin Halife
Haxhi Ahmed
Pervir Deda
Ibrahim Kiran
Ibrahim Jusuf
Kurd, nallban
Ali
Oruxh
Ibrahim
Mustafa Abdullahu
Oruxh Halife
Piri Iljaz
Hasan
Rizvan Deda
Memi
Hasan
Fazli
Mustafa
Memi
Mehmed
Hysein

Neighborhood ''Sinan Vojvoda''

Halife
Ramazan
Mehmed
Sulejman
Ali Deda
Hasan
Kara
Memi
Haxhi Deda
Musa Hysein
Kara Ahmed
Mustafa Abdullah

Neighborhood ''Piri Bej''

Sheh Gjelani Deda
Jusuf

Neighborhood ''Ahmed''

Halife
Hydaverd
Halife Rabi
Hasan
Hysein
Mustafa
Mehmed Damraga
Memi
Mehmed
Halife
Ali Kurd
Halife Durak
Husrev
Ferhad
Hysein
Memi
Ali Jahja

Neighborhood ''Hysein''

Halife Alaedin
Xhafer
Ferah
Ahmed
Ferhat
Ibrahim

Neighborhood ''Hasan Celebi''

Xhelil Hoxha
Kycuk
Hasani
Hasan
Mehmed Halife
Hasan
Ali Pjetri


Neighborhood ''Mustafa Bej''

Turgud
Hysein
Abdi
Hasan Abdullah
Ali Karagjoz


Neighborhood ''Mahmud Kadi''

Halife Nasuh
Hasan Abdullah
Durak Osman
Hasan Turgud
Mustafa Hasan
Hysein Abdullah
Hasan Abdullah
Memi Ferhad
Iskender Ahmed
Kasem Abdullah


Neighborhood ''Orman''

Mustafa
Halife
Halife Dervish
Ibrahim
Turali
Hasan
Sinan
Sulejman Shirmerd
Pir Mehmed Deda
Oruxh
Bajazid Halife
Halife Davud
Kurd
Bali
Mustafa Abdullah
Kasem
Ibrahim
Hasan Abdullah
Mustafa

Neighborhood ''Kapishnica''

Husrev
Ali Kurdi
Veli
Halie Muslieldin
Mehmed Haxhi Nasuh
Mahmud
Sefer Abdullah
Mehmed Iljas
Halife Kurdi
Mustafa
Mahmud
Kurd
Abdi Ibrahim
Perver Abdullah
Nasuh Abdullah


Neighborhood ''Msxhidi Haxhi Mahmud''

Hasan
Hasan
Kurd
Turgut Davud
Davud
Ferhad
Gazanfer Abdullah


Neighborhood ''Bali bej''

Omer Halife
Mustafa
Haxhi Mustafa
Hsein
Ali
Musa Halife
Hurem Abdullah
Hysein
Ahmed
Davud Allagjoz


Neighborhood ''Ceribash''

Mehmed
Ali Abdullah
Ali Abdullah
Bajram Abdullah
Pervane
Ali Abdullah
Mustafa Abdullah
Ahmed Abdullah




Christian neighborhoods

Neighborhood ''Gjura Papuxhi''

Stepan Pjaka
Stepo Zhivko
Nika
Pejo Stepan
Pal Kola
Stojan Marko
Jovan
Jovan Gjura
Frati Gega


Neighborhood Olivir

Gjec
Raja
Mic
Mici
Raja
Dush
Komin
Pejan
Gjuro

 

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Sources from the 17th century confirm the Muslims in Peja were Albanians:

Travelling Kosova in the 1660's, Evliya Celebi wrote that the town lay in 'Albania'.[18]According to a report from 1681, the town had a majority of 1,000 Muslim Albanian households, and 100 Christian Serb households.[19]

Peja - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Town of Gjakova from 1591 https://mapcarta.com/Gjakova , also inhabited by Albanians

Hysein
Gjivan
Kurd Sulejman
Bajazid Sulejman
Sinan Abdullah
Sefer
Nasuh Abdullah
Gjon Pepa
Ugrin Nika
Musa
Sinan Sulejmani
Hurrem Marku
Hasan Sinan
Ali Abdullah
Nika Gjoni
Pejo Nika
Stepa Raja
Dimitri Raja
Doc Mara
Dom Popa
Mata Raja
Simon Marku
Gjon Pali
File Raja
Gjec Domi
Pepa Thaka
Ilia Pepa
Pejo Raja
Maro Gaci
Stola Gjura
Pava Nika
Gjura Petra
Popa Nova
Voja Biba
Popa Biba
Dimitri Popa
Andre Marin
Pejo Andrea
Lika
Pejo Dida
Gac Mara
Deja Raja
Bac Keshani
Voja Prendi
Gja Pali
Ulkasin Vuka
Pejo Pali
Mata Pepa
Voja Dimjo
Gjon Gaci
Gjon Rada
Petra Gjura
Prend
Stola Gjura
Kola Gjini
Stepa Gjura
Pejo Biba
Gjin Andrea
Ulkash Gjoni
Milosav

Also sever larger households not listed. For the town in 1571 see here: https://www.eupedia.com/forum/threads/kosova-1571-ottoman-register.44802/

During the early period of Ottoman rule, Gjakova and the Gjakova Municipality were part of the Nahiya of Altun-ili. Most of the villages in the Nahiya of Altun-ili were dominated by inhabitants with Albanian anthroponomy. This is seen by Selami Pulaha as an indication that during the 15th century (as supported by Ottoman defters), the lands between Junik and Gjakova were inhabited by a dominant ethnic Albanian majority. In the 1571 and 1591 Ottoman defters, the majority of the inhabitants of Gjakova as a settlement itself were recorded with Albanian anthroponomy; Albanian onomastics prevailed over Slavic onomastics.[11][12]

Gjakova - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Town of Novo Brdo, I won't post the names for this one but there is a quick explanation on wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novo_Brdo

Ragusan documents attest to the presence of a significant number of Albanians living in Novo Brdo throughout the 14th and early 15th centuries, including members of the Catholic Albanian clergy with names such as Gjergjash and Gjinko, Gjini, son of Gjergji, the presbyter (1382); the reverend Gjergj Gega, Nikollë Tanushi, Gjergj Andrea Pellini and Nikolla Progonovic. In the book of debtors belonging to Ragusan merchant Mihail Lukarevic, who resided in Novo Brdo during the 1430s, 150 Albanian household heads were mentioned as living in Novo Brdo with their families. They worked as miners, artisans and specialists in the mines of Novo Brdo. The anthroponomy of these figures is characteristically Albanian; distinctive Albanian names such as Gjon, Gjin, Tanush, Progon, Lek, Gjergj and Bibë are mentioned. Some families had a mixed Slav-Albanian anthroponomy - that is to say, a Slavic first name and an Albanian last name, or last names with Albanian patronyms and Slavic suffixes such as Gjonoviç, Gjinoviq, Progonoviq, Bushatoviq, Dodishiq, Kondiq, Lekiq and other such names. Many Albanian Catholic priests were registered as residing in Novo Brdo, as well as in towns like Janjevo, Trepça, Prizren and others.[4]

In the Ottoman Defter of 1591, the city of Novo Brdo itself was recorded within the Sanjak of Viçitrina - this defter included the household heads of the city. The city consisted of several Muslim neighbourhoods (Mahalla/Mëhalla); they were Xhamia Sherif (Sherif Mosque, 26 households), Kasap (11 households), Hamam (21 households), Darbbane (40 households) and Mehmed Çelebi (5 households). There was also 6 Jewish households, including 1 that hailed from Catalonia and 1 that hailed from Castille. Of the Christian neighbourhoods (Mahalla/Mëhalla), the following had inhabitants of mixed Albanian-Slavic/Orthodox anthroponomy: Sokraja (15 households), Pop Simoni (12 households), Çarshi (13) and Himandin (9). Slavic/Orthodox anthroponomy predominated in the following neighbourhoods:Sveti Petra (19 households), Sveti Nika (9 households), Marko Kërsti (26 households), Filip (9 households), Pop Krilovina (10 households), Kallogjer Gligorija (6 households), Kovaç Radosavi (16 households), Shagliçiq (8 households), Shuster (14 households) and Vuka Mrkshiq (8 households). Characteristic Albanian anthroponomy predominated in the following neighbourhoods: Protopop (9 households), Izllatar (9 households), Pop Grobani (Grubani) (5 households), Pop Bozha (4 households) and Kuriçka (13 households).[8]

 

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Town/village of Janjevo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janjevo

The 16th century Ottoman defters also show that Janjevo contained an Albanian population of Muslim and Christian faith and a Christian Albanian neighborhood in Janjevo called "Arbanas".[11] The Muslim population had Islamised Albanian names and Muslim names while the Christian population of Arbanas had a mixture of Albanian, Christian and Slavic names. As such, the historian Mark Krasniqi considers the inhabitants of Arbanas to be Albanians who bore Orthodox Slavic names or Albanian-Slavic names.[12] Albanian names were also present in other neighborhoods and some of the inhabitants would have a mixture of Albanian and Slavic names.[11] The neighborhood 'Arbanas' was mentioned with 74 homes.[11]

 

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The town of Vushtrri: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vushtrri

In 1487, Albanian toponyms, such as Shalc, Kuçiq and Guri i Kuq are mentioned in the Nahija of Vushtrri.[3]

According to the Ottoman defter of the 16th century, Vushtrri had been significantly Islamised.[4]

In his 1662 work, Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi noted that the residents of Vushtrri were "Rumelians" of which "most of them do not speak Bosnian (Serbo-Croatian) but do speak Albanian and Turkish."[8]

 

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Town of Prizren: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prizren

In the Ottoman Defter of 1591, the city of Prizren itself was recorded within the Sanjak of Prizren - this includes the household heads of the city. By this time, Prizren had been significantly Islamised, as reflected by the anthroponomy of the inhabitants; several cases of Muslim inhabitants with mixtures of Muslim and Albanian anthroponomy exist (i.e. Ali Gjoci, Hasan Gjinaj, Ferhad Reçi, Hasan Bardi...). The Muslim neighbourhoods (Mahalla/Mëhalla) consisted of Xhamia e Vjetër (Old Mosque, 53 homes), Levisha (50 homes), Ajas beu (15 homes), Haxhi Kasem (48 homes), Jazixhi Sinani (71 homes), Çarshia (also called Jakub beu, 18 homes), Kurila (31 homes) and Mëhalla e lëkurëpunuesve (neighbourhood of the leatherworkers, 34 homes). The Christian neighbourhoods (Mahalla/Mëhalla) consisted of Pazari i Vjetër (Old Market, 8 homes), Madhiq (37 homes), Vasil (27 homes), Kodha (13 homes), Çarshia/Pjetri Nikolla (14 homes), Bogoi Riber (11 homes), Radmir (51 homes), Jazixhi Sinani (mentioned beforehand, 24 homes), Pandelja (29 homes), Prend Vriça (9 homes) and Ajas (13 homes). The neighbourhoods of Pandelja, Jazixhi Sinani and Kodha were dominated by inhabitants with characteristically Albanian anthroponomy; the other neighbourhoods saw a blend between predominantly Slavic/Slavic-Albanian (or rather, Orthodox) anthroponomy.[42]

During the Austrian-Ottoman wars, the Albanian population in Prizren, under the leadership of Pjeter Bogdani, rallied to support the Austrians against the Ottomans.[43] Documents and dispatches refer to the Austrians marching to 'Prizren, the capital of Albania' where they were welcomed by Pjeter Bogdani and 5,000-6,000 Albanian soldiers.[43][44]

The town was entirely Islamised and there is evidence to show most of the people in this town were Albanians that were all eventually Islamised:

However, as that last quotation may suggest, there was some flexibility and haziness in the usage of these terms by West Europeans during this period. Some writers used the terms ‘Albaniar’ and ‘Serb’ in a way that seems to have acknowledged linguistic and religious differences (for example, Lazaro Soranzo, in the late sixteenth century, writing of ‘Albanians, who live as Catholics, and observing that Prizren was inhabited ‘more by Albanians than by Serbs’)."”

Prizren was a large town, estimated to contain 10,000 households in 1670. In 1681 Bogdani reported that just 30 of these were Catholic. Reports from earlier in the century stated that there were three times as many Orthodox Serb households as Catholic ones: in 1624 Pjetér Mazrreku reported that Prizren had roughly 200 Catholic inhabitants and 600 ‘Serviani. But the great bulk of the population—12,000 people in 1624—were “Muslims, almost all of them Albanians (‘Turchi, quasi tutti Albanesi’).

Rebels, Believers, Survivors Studies In The History Of The Albanians Malcolm Noel ( 2020) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Best book, abou Albanian history, read it

archive.org

Prizren also had Orthodox Albanians and Catholic Albanians, many of the villages around Prizren , if not most, were Albanians I believe .

 

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Registers also show Trepca had an Albanian population:

Several neighborhoods in the area of Trepča according to the Ottoman defter of 1591 were Islamised and the other neighborhoods contained people with a mixture of Christian, Albanian and Slavic names. According to Selami Pulaha, Trepča in the 16th century had a significant Albanian population.[13] 13 heads of families in the neighborhood of Trepz and 22 heads of families in the neighborhood Mekisha bore typical Albanian names.[14]

Trepča Mines - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Prishtina, also Albanian:

According to Ottoman defters from the 16th century, Prishtina had been significantly Islamised. Islamised Albanian names appear among the inhabitants while the Christian neighborhoods had Orthodox Slavic, Christian and Albanian names.[30]

During the Austro-Turkish War in the late 17th century, citizens of Pristina under the leadership of the Catholic Albanian priest Pjetër Bogdani pledged loyalty to the Austrian army and supplied troops. He contributed a force of 6,000 Albanian soldiers to the Austrian army which had arrived in Pristina. According to Noel Malcolm, the city in the 17th century was inhabited by a majority population of 15,000 Muslims, probably Albanian but very possibly including some Slavs.[31] Austrian military archives from the years of 1689-90 mention "5,000 Muslim Albanians in Prishtina who had risen against the Turks".[31][32]

Pristina - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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We can obviously see who the most ancient inhabitants of Kosovo are. Can any of these so called Slavs or Serbs care to explain to me why every single town in Kosovo according to these registers had an Albanian population or why these registers from the 16th century for example which cover the area between Peja and Prizren (also known as the 'Plains of Dukagjin', which the Serbs call ''Metohija'' (a 19th-20th century invented term) was inhabited by a majority Albanian population ? Demographics don't change that fast. Even studying these 15th century registers we can see there were Albos there even back then.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metohija

The Turkish traveller Evliya Celebi who travelled Kosova in the 1660's described Kosova as inhabited by an Albanian population, this was 30 years before the Austrian-Ottoman wars and 30 years before the so called supposed ''Great Migration of Serbs'' :

In 1660 Çelebi went to Kosovo and referred to the central part of the region as Arnavud (آرناوود) and noted that in Vushtrri its inhabitants were speakers of Albanian or Turkish and few spoke Bosnian.[18] The highlands around the Tetovo, Peja and Prizren areas Çelebi considered as being the "mountains of Arnavudluk".[18] Çelebi referred to the "mountains of Peja" as being in Arnavudluk (آرناوودلق) and considered the Ibar river that converged in Mitrovica as forming Kosovo's border with Bosnia.[18] He viewed the "Kılab" or Llapi river as having its source in Arnavudluk (Albania) and by extension the Sitnica as being part of that river.[18] Çelebi also included the central mountains of Kosovo within Arnavudluk.[18]

Evliya Çelebi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Llapi region in North-East Kosovo and the Llapi river:

In 1487, Albanian toponyms such as Arbanas were mentioned in the Nahija of Llapi.[7] Ottoman writer Evliya Celebi mentioned the Llapi river as having "its source in Albania" and joining other rivers before flowing into the Danube, during one of his travels to Kosovo in the 1660s.[8]

The quote itself from Evliya Celebi in the 1660's where he mentions the Llapi river in North-East Kosovo as having it's source in ''Albania'':

Through this part of the plain flows the Llap river, which has its source in Albania, (8) joins the ..... river at the foot of the aforementioned fortress of Mitrovica, and then joins the Morava river, which flows into the Danube.

Llap (region) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

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Sources from the years of 1689-90 mention Prizren in Kosovo as the capital of Albania:

For his part, he continued his march and arrived on the 6th, as reported earlier, in Prisiran [Prizren], the Capital of Albania, where he was welcomed by the Archbishop (5) [36r] of that country and by the Patriarch of Clementa with their various religious ceremonies.

1689 | Kosovo in the Great Turkish War of 1683-1699

www.albanianhistory.net

Also from the writer Lazaro Soranzo in the 16th century earlier:

Lazaro Soranzo, in the late sixteenth century, writing of ‘Albanians, who live as Catholics, and observing that Prizren was inhabited ‘more by Albanians than by Serbs’)."”

 

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Noel Malcolm did a great job to collect these facts.